Charmed: Let Gorgons Be Gorgons (3 page)

“Sorry if he’s driving you crazy,” Phoebe said to Prue once he was far out of earshot.

Prue dug into the pizza box, pulling slices out for her other sisters and putting them on the plates she’d created out of the air. “First off, it’s not your responsibility to apologize for him. And the truth is I’d probably go crazy—well,
crazier
—if he weren’t stuck here with me. Much as I love your visits, you can’t be here every day. Now that Dad’s back home from his little vacation, it would be lonely without Cole.”

“Can’t say you’re not making the best out of a bad situation,” Paige said.

“I do what I can.” Prue lifted her slice of pizza and blew on it like Phoebe had. “Now, tell me what’s going on with all of you. It sounds like Mr. Granite can probably stay like that a bit.” Prue took a bite of pizza. It wasn’t nearly as hot as Phoebe had made it seem.

“I can’t imagine a missing congressman is a good thing,” Phoebe said. “But the world might be better off if this particular congressman stayed on ice for a while.”

The bitter cold slapped Cole in the face the moment he faded into the ice cavern with Leo at his side. Frigid air bit into his exposed skin and right through the silk of his suit. Nothing in his current wardrobe was proper for this excursion. “Think I prefer my trips to the Underworld. At least it’s warmer. Downright hot at times, depending on what you’re doing down there.”

“We won’t be here long.” Leo wrapped his arms around himself for warmth. At least his long-sleeved flannel was slightly more appropriate for the conditions. “But yes, it was better when I had a magical ability to fend off the cold.”

“The internal warmth of the demon inside me was one small benefit of my prior existence,” Cole said. The ex-demon’s ability to teleport was one of the few powers he retained in his now undead form. His current version of a life was a far better tradeoff than when he was part-Belthazor—or carried the Source inside him. But there were times when he did miss some of the special abilities he had when he was at his most powerful. A fireball or two would have come in quite handy in this ice cave.

Cole wasn’t sure what to call himself these days. He was no longer a demon but clearly no longer mortal. He was more corporeal than a ghost, but still technically dead. “Undead” really was the most reasonable term, but that brought up images of zombies shambling along, and he still carried himself with his traditional swagger. Like Prue, he was a supernatural unicorn, incredibly rare and possibly one of a kind. It would make things difficult if he ever decided to reapply for a driver’s license, but he didn’t see many government forms in his future. He was still Cole and that was all that really mattered.

Leo was already on the move, heading down an icy tunnel into the frozen unknown. “The remaining Titans should be in the general vicinity.”

Cole followed. “Do you miss it?”

“Magic?” Leo asked as they moved through the cavern. “It came in handy at times. Complicated things at times too.”

“Not just the magic,” Cole said. “All of it. Having a calling. Being a Whitelighter. Or… I hear you were an Elder for a while too.”

“And an Avatar,” Leo said. “So we’ve got that in common. But yes, I do miss some things about the role I played in watching over the Charmed Ones. It’s a good trade-off though. Growing old with Piper. Raising our family together without the Elders constantly calling me Up There. The healing power would be nice, especially when Chris was going through his daredevil stage, but I wouldn’t change it for the world. Why? Are you having trouble with your new role?”

“I’m adjusting,” Cole said as they came to a fork in the tunnels. “I’ve never been good at taking orders from someone. Just ask the Source. Oh, that’s right. You can’t. He’s gone.”

Leo moved down the tunnel on the left. “Yeah, but he’ll probably be back soon. That’s one power that refuses to stay vanquished. Kind of like you.”

“Not good company to be in,” Cole said. “But I take your point.”

“This must be the place.” The tunnel opened up in front of Leo, leading into an ice cavern that was decorated more like a hut in the middle of some kind of safari tour or an old adventure movie.

A wooden platform had been built on the snowy ground. The table standing on it held a large book of magic, even bigger than the Charmed Ones’ Book of Shadows. In the corner, someone had strung up a hammock as makeshift living quarters under an old umbrella that probably did little to keep ice from falling on them while they slept. Torches were stuck in the snow and lanterns hung from the walls. The magic that had created them still kept the flames alive even after all these years. It was slightly unnerving, as if the being that had enchanted them was going to return home at any moment.

Cole examined the wooden platform that bore the telltale scorch marks he assumed had once been a demon or some other practitioner of dark magic. It was doubtful anyone was coming back from that. “Ah, yes. It looks like the Charmed Ones have been here.”

“This wasn’t actually their doing,” Leo said as he examined two human-sized gouges in the ice walls, running a hand along the frozen tombs. “I would have expected all of this to ice over again by now.”

“Magical prisons don’t function by real world rules,” Cole said as he examined the remains of the prison. “This place held three people?”

“Two in here,” Leo said. “Titans. Powerful beings that claimed to be gods. They ruled the world until the Elders intervened by granting mortals incredible powers so they could battle the Titans.”

“Because the Elders never involve themselves directly when they can get other people to do the hard work for them,” Cole said. “Figures.”

“It’s better now,” Leo assured him. “Somewhat. The Elders have learned their lessons for the most part. They don’t abuse their position like they used to under the guise of being above it all.”

“They’re still keeping Prue prisoner at the Nexus as punishment for breaking their rules.”

“I don’t know how much of that is their doing,” Leo said. “She seems to be more of a prisoner of the magic itself, but I get your point.”

Cole joined Leo at the gouges in the wall. “What did these Titans do when they finally got out?”

“Decimated the Elders,” Leo said with a note of sadness in his voice. It might have been years ago, but the pain was still there. “Whitelighters too. The Titans turned some of us to stone, which allowed them to steal our power to orb.”

“And that’s why we’re here?”

Leo shrugged as he headed to the other side of the cavern. “Someone’s got to check it out. Let’s try down that tunnel. There was a third Titan imprisoned somewhere around here. There might be others. I figure one loop around this place should tell us all we need to know. Then we can get someplace warm.”

Cole followed. He was glad to be moving again. It helped to keep the circulation flowing. In this cold, he could imagine his blood freezing, if he even had blood in his veins anymore. The whole “undead” thing was a little confusing. “You don’t sound very convinced.”

“I’m not so sure it’s the Titans,” Leo admitted. “Congressman Ward’s a mortal. The Titans were focused on magical beings. This doesn’t exactly fit their M.O.”

“We
assume
he’s a mortal,” Cole said. “You know as well as anyone that magic takes all forms.”

“True. Like I tell my students: magic can be the beauty or the beast.”

Cole smiled his familiar wry grin. “Sometimes it’s both.”

Stheno ran her fingers through her long, flowing black hair, shaking free the cobwebs she’d passed through on that last bend in the tunnel. It was something to do while she waited. Euryale had stopped once again to pull her heel out of the soft dirt. Her sister did love her stilettos. There was little doubt in Stheno’s mind that one day Euryale’s love of modern fashion would be her undoing.

“Do we have to do this every year?” Stheno asked, pulling a spider free from the tangles of her hair. She considered leaving the arachnid where it was, but she preferred to behave as a human while in human form. The average person didn’t usually react well to creepy crawlies in their hair. Not that there were any actual humans around to see her at the moment. But it was too easy to fall into old habits when it mattered if she grew too casual with her actions when it didn’t count.

“I’m sorry.” Euryale shook out her shoe in the light of her lantern. “Between the soft dirt and the tiny stones these shoes were not made for caves.”

Stheno rolled her eyes. “Then change them.”

Euryale let out a resigned huff of air. “Fine.”

Euryale closed her eyes and concentrated. It only took a second for the black leather heals to shift into a more appropriate pair of brown hiking books. When she opened her eyes again, she seemed quite happy with her new choice of footwear, but her smile faltered as her eyes moved up to the tight skirt above them. She looked at her sister, held up a finger and shrugged an apology as she closed her eyes again. The tight skirt shifted into a pair of jeans and her blouse changed to a T-shirt. She finished off the look by having her own long, black hair pulled back into a hair clip. This time when she opened her eyes she seemed happier with the entire ensemble.

“Better?” Stheno asked.

Euryale smiled. “Much.”

“I don’t understand why you didn’t just do that when we first entered the caves,” Stheno said as she continued on down the tunnel.

“Mainly because I know it drives you crazy,” Euryale replied. “If we’re going to do this every year I might as well have some fun in the process.”

For as long as they had been sisters, Euryale had been something of a mystery. At times she seemed naïve and somewhat clueless. And yet, Stheno was fairly certain it was all an act, something to mess with her. It was Euryale’s way of standing out as the middle sister. Stheno was beyond tired of it, especially since it had only been the two of them together for the longest time.

Stheno tried to put her frustrations with Euryale out of her mind as she continued the journey. Not that she needed to concentrate on the path. They’d made this trip so many times that she could do it with her eyes closed.

The tunnels beneath the city of Athens were always cool, no matter the season, no matter the millennia. That was the one thing Stheno had come to expect whenever they visited their lost sister. It was an annual tradition, this trek to the place between the Earth and Hades, between life and death; one that usually ended with the same expected result. But this year would be different. This year, everything would change.

Stheno and Euryale had never been all the way down to Hades before. These tunnels were the closest they had ever come. It wasn’t safe for them in Hades. Not while they were still alive. Hades wasn’t exactly a high-volume tourist destination, even for Stheno or Euryale, no matter what mortals might think of them when they were in their cursed form. They’d been called demons on more than one occasion, but that couldn’t have been further from the truth.

It was rarely called Hades in the modern world any longer, but the sisters refused to let the name go. They held tight to their memories of the time in which they had been cursed, refusing to completely change with the times. Oh, Euryale liked the modern conveniences enough: the ease of technology, the taste of manufactured foods. But some things were best in their original form. “Hades” was just so perfect a word whether referring to the god or his home. “The Underworld” did not have nearly the same ring to it. So very literal. Totally lacking in any creativity.

The path before them broke off into a pair of tunnels and the sisters took the one on the right without hesitation. They’d been making this trek for over a thousand years. Always on the same date, even when the world had adapted to a new calendar. This time they brought with them a hope that they had not felt in centuries. This time, they were going to reunite their family.

“Every year this journey feels shorter than the last,” Euryale said.

“The curse of immortality,” Stheno replied. “The more days behind us, the less time means in the present.”

“One would think by now that time would have lost all meaning,” Euryale said.

“It probably would if we hadn’t been counting the days since we lost our sister.”

“You’re still counting?” Euryale asked. “I gave up once we hit six digits.”

Stheno paused. “Every day. Every minute.”

Euryale tilted her head. “That’s a lot of counting. We need to get you a hobby.”

Stheno pressed on. “Once we awaken Medusa, I’ll have a new hobby.”

“Not so new. But much more fun!”

Several more twists and turns brought them to the familiar chamber where their sister’s body had been laid to rest. Over time they had carved out a fitting tribute to Medusa, the youngest of the siblings and the most famous of their trio by far. They set their lanterns on the stone pillars they had placed by the entrance to the chamber.

Medusa’s remains had been at rest in the cave for thousands of years, placed there by her sisters at the spot where Earth gave way to Hades in their homeland. They had done this in the hope that one day they could resurrect Medusa’s soul and return her to them. They had tried many, many times, and always failed.

Medusa was by far the strongest of the sisters, but the only one that was not immortal. It was that cruel twist that plagued the ancient powers throughout history. The strongest among them always possessed the most fragile weakness. Achilles and his fragile heel was just one example.

If Perseus had defeated Stheno or Euryale, they would have entered a peaceful slumber for a century or so before they reawakened. But Medusa had been gone far too long. And she had taken the strength of their union with her, leaving Stheno and Euryale mere shells of magic.

It had taken every ounce of their powers working together to turn that politician to stone. It helped that his heart was already there, at least metaphorically. Had he been a good person, Stheno wasn’t so sure their magic would have worked at all. It was an odd quirk of the curse, but one that Medusa’s skills could negate.

Stheno stood on the dirt atop her sister’s remains. She could feel their connection through the earth beneath her feet. “This is our last attempt,” she said. “If we do not succeed today, we will not return.”

Euryale hadn’t expected that. “You’re giving up? After all this time?”

“I’ll never fully give up,” Stheno said. “But if this spell doesn’t work today, I can’t imagine it ever will. We’re finally in the time when Mother Earth is at her strongest. Not since the first witch roamed the planet have women held more power in the balance of magic. The Charmed Ones protect the Innocent. Their sister is at the juncture point of the realms. All magic flows through the body of a woman. If we call on that essence to return our sister, we will have to succeed.”

“We’re hanging our hopes on a lot of power that doesn’t belong to us,” Euryale said.

“The magic belongs to everyone. We are only channeling it for a moment. No one will even notice that it is being directed our way.”

Stheno stuck out her tongue, letting the glamour that gave her the current version of the aesthetically pleasing body fall away. She could taste the magic in the air. The Charmed Ones were calling on their powers, just as she had planned it. “We must begin.”